The omega-3 variant of SARS-CoV-2 may be less effective in penetrating into the lungs and spreading from cell to cell. Corona virus, Suggests early studies of human cells in the laboratory diet.
Some initial data from countries such as South Africa and the UK may help explain why it causes less severe disease. But although Omigron does not invade Lung Cells efficiently, the new study was published in the Print Database on Tuesday (Dec. 21) bioRxiv, Confirmed that the variant deceives most Antibodies Developed by fully vaccinated individuals.
Like other research, the team showed Pfizer’s “booster” size Vaccine Significantly increased the neutralizing power of antibodies in vaccinated people, “We still expect immunity to decline over time,” said senior author Ravindra Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases. Said in a statement.
Related: Types of Corona Viruses: Facts About Omigron, Delta and Other Covit-19 Mutants
The research has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal, but the findings “present mutations in Omigron. Virus With a double-edged sword: Better to avoid it Immune system, But it may have lost its ability to cause serious illness, “Gupta said.
Data from South Africa, the United Kingdom and other countries suggest that Omigran infections may be moderately low, but background levels of immunity to natural infections and vaccines are tricky to interpret these results, NPR reported.
There are more than 30 mutations in Omigran Genes The code for its spike protein, the part of the virus that attaches to cells to induce infection, Live Science previously reported. Among them, 10 code for regions of the “receptor binding domain” (RBD) or specific region of the spike protein in cells.
To explore how these spike mutations interact with cells, researchers designed pseudoviruses called synthetic viruses that carry the Omigron spike protein. In comparison, they developed pseudoviruses with delta spike protein and some Wuhan-1 spikes or the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The team wants to understand how three omega-specific mutations, called polyphasic cleavage site (BBCS), affect the ability of the virus to enter cells. After the spike protein is inserted into a cell, the BBCS cleaves or splits, allowing genetic material from the virus to enter the host cell; Alpha and delta strains carry BBCS mutations that allow them to enter cells more easily, according to a previous study by researchers published in the June 8 issue of the journal. Cell reports.
Omigron has similar mutations in its BBCS genes, so the team predicts that it could slip into cells as easily as alpha and delta. They tested this theory using their pseudo-viruses to infect human lung cells and lung organoids in laboratory foods – 3D clusters of cells created to mimic the features of the entire lung. As for the BBCS mutations, they found that Omigran entered lung cells and organoids less efficiently than Delta and instead resembled Wuhan-1.
Delta also surpassed Omigran in the second experiment. Once inside a cell, delta pseudoviruses induce cell fusion, which allows neighboring cells to stick together and spread the virus quickly between them. Extensive cell-cell fusion in the lung is often seen in the context of acute COVID-19, the researchers noted in their report. However, in their experiments, Omigron cell fusion was initiated less efficiently than Delta, and this inhibited the ability of the virus to replicate in lung cells.
(A Separate study, Has not been further reviewed, Omigron reflects more efficiently than delta in upper airway cells, but is less effective than the original strains of SARS-CoV-2 in lung cells.)
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“We speculate that the more effectively the virus infects our cells, the more severe the disease will be,” Gupta said in a statement. “Omigran is not as good at entering lung cells as it could be, and this new variant could cause less severe lung-related disease by producing less fused cells with lower infection levels in the laboratory.”
Future studies should confirm the translation of these experiments into laboratory diets The human body. Meanwhile, group tests with antibodies ensure that people get booster shots as soon as possible to achieve maximum protection against variance, Gupta said in a statement.
“Individuals who receive only two doses of the vaccine – or worse, none at all – are still at significant risk of COVID-19, and some will develop serious illness,” he said. “The number of new cases we see every day reinforces the need for everyone to get their boosters quickly.”
First published in Live Science.
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